Former MP settles phone hacking legal claim

FORMER Hampshire MP Mark Oaten has received a large cash payment after settling his phone hacking legal case with the publishers of the News of the World.

Mr Oaten was one of seven public figures to reach a financial agreement in the wake of the scandal that brought the Sunday tabloid to a halt, it emerged yesterday.

The former Winchester MP has a history with the paper, which in 2006 published allegations of an affair with a
male escort that saw him resign from the Liberal Democrat front bench and step down from his seat at the 2010 general election.

Civil action The settlement followed a civil action by Mr Oaten against News Group Newspapers, the News International subsidiary that published the News of the World until it closed in July, and
private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, who was jailed in 2007 for phone hacking.

Mr Oaten claimed he was a victim of the scandal and said he had been awarded “substantial compensation” alongside others including Ulrika Jonsson, Abi Titmuss and Calum Best.

News International released a statement expressing regret for any distress caused and said “appropriate sums by way of compensation” had been agreed.

Terms of the payments were not disclosed.

After serving in Westminster for 13 years, father-of-two Mr Oaten, 48, is now working as chief executive of the International Fur Trade Federation.

He was also seen taking part in a TV reality show in which he lived for a week on a council estate in Dagenham. Viewers saw him break down in tears after being taunted by youths.